


Backup

by nouseforaname



Series: Recovery Mode [12]
Category: Mr. Robot (TV)
Genre: F/F, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2020-08-20
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:53:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26003731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nouseforaname/pseuds/nouseforaname
Summary: Today's a special day, and Darlene wants Dom to be as excited about it as she is.
Relationships: Darlene Alderson/Dominique DiPierro
Series: Recovery Mode [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1625374
Comments: 3
Kudos: 32





	Backup

Darlene was never a fan of anniversaries, mostly because the majority of the noteworthy dates in her life aren’t really worth commemorating. Her dad’s birthday, or the Five/Nine hack, isn’t exactly celebratory material. Cisco’s death isn’t a very happy memory either, nor is Angela’s. Her brother never cared much for his birthday, and she stopped giving a shit about her own birthday when the Dark Army killed off the few people she actually considered her friends and she was forced to realize that the majority of the people in her social circle were just acquaintances she kept around so she doesn’t have to deal with being alone. Stealing from the Deus Group and redistributing their wealth is probably the only thing she likes to look back on, but other than that, she really doesn’t have much else.

Except for today, that is.

“That’s not it.” She huffs as she joins Dom by her closet.

“Why does it have to be the _exact_ same shirt?” The redhead sighs as Darlene rises on her tiptoes to search the upper shelf. “I don’t even remember what I wore that night. It happened so long ago.”

“It happened exactly two years ago,” Darlene reminds her as she digs through Dom’s wardrobe. “And I know exactly what you were wearing because I took it off you later.”

She can hear Dom nervously stuttering beside her, and she smirks to herself as she continues to search her girlfriend’s clothes. “Why are we doing this again? We didn’t celebrate it last year, and...” She pauses for a moment, her cheeks stained a bright pink. “Um, this isn’t the day we actually started dating, so it’s not like this is our...” She pauses again and swallows. _“Anniversary,_ or anything.”

“We didn’t celebrate it last year because we were still going through some shit, but things have eased up since then so it’s about time we start,” Darlene’s eyebrows rise up on her forehead when she finally finds the olive green t-shirt stashed away at the very back of the closet; she pulls it out and shoves it in Dom’s hands, grinning triumphantly. “And we’re doing this because it’s _the_ night. It might as well be our anniversary; it’s definitely more memorable than the day we officially started dating.”

“You mean the night when you seduced me and tried to steal my badge out of my safe?” Dom raises an eyebrow as Darlene impatiently tugs on the hem of the shirt she’s currently wearing. She pulls the shirt over her head and hastily pulls the green one on. “It’s not one of our happier moments.”

“But it’s _the_ moment.” Darlene rolls her eyes. She jerks her head towards the safe, and Dom sighs before hunching over it; she punches in the code and swings the door open, reaching inside to pull out her gun and badge. “It’s like our very own Big Bang - figuratively and literally.” She grins, unable to help herself. “‘Cause y’know, it’s when all of this started, and we banged-”

“I get it, thanks.” Dom mutters as she straps the holster to the back of her belt, her cheeks still flushed pink as Darlene laughs at her embarrassment. “Is this really necessary?”

“It is.” Darlene insists as she reaches for the thick leather belt wrapped around Dom’s waist, smirking when she hears the redhead gulp; she easily unfastens it, her fingers lingering on the large brass buckle for a moment before she pops the button on Dom’s pants and pulls on the zipper until it’s halfway down. “And this night in particular is _super_ important because it’s the first time we’re commemorating it, so we have to do this right. It’s gonna dictate how we’re gonna do all the other nights after this one. It’s a defining moment, Dom; we’re making history here.” She tucks Dom’s shirt into her pants before zipping and buttoning her back up, and then she finally buckles her belt, giving it one last firm tug before pulling away.

Dom’s face is almost completely red. “Wait - we’re doing this every year now?”

“Yup.” Darlene’s grinning again. “You can say it’s a new tradition.”

“So,” Dom furrows her brow as her eyes drift to the ceiling. “We have to re-enact _everything?_ We go to the same bar, order the same drinks, then we come back here and you steal my shit?”

“Well, that’s the thing.” Darlene cocks her head to the side. “Since I don’t have a reason to steal your shit anymore, we can tweak things a bit. Maybe we can have the night we should’ve had instead.”

“What are we gonna talk about when we get to the bar?” Dom runs a hand through her rusty red hair. “You’re not a source anymore, and nobody has to testify against anyone.”

“We’re gonna find girls for you to take home, duh.” Darlene rolls her eyes, irritated that she isn’t catching on. “Damn, Dom - your memory is almost as shitty as Elliot’s.”

“I remember _important_ details.” Dom follows her to the small dining table and watches her slip on her flannel shirt and purple backpack. “And I don’t need to find a girl to take home; I already have one, and she’s being _really_ annoying right now.”

Her words force the widest, dopiest grin onto Darlene’s face, but she hides it by quickly turning away from the redhead so she can head for the front door. “This is gonna be fun, trust me.” She opens the door and reaches for Dom’s hand, pulling her out into the hallway.

Dom heaves a sigh as she brandishes her keys. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“You will.” She casts one last grin in the redhead’s direction before dragging her towards the stairs.

* * *

“That one.”

“No.”

“What about her?”

“Jesus, no.”

“Okay…what about _that_ one?”

“No.”

“You didn’t even look!”

“No. Just…no.”

Darlene rolls her eyes and crosses her arms on top of the bar counter. “You’re somehow making this even harder than you did the first time it happened.”

“I wonder why?” Dom raises her glass to her mouth and takes a sip, glaring at her out of the corner of her eye.

“Oh, c’mon.” Darlene finishes her glass in one gulp and immediately orders another round. “You aren’t even trying.”

“Because there’s no point.” Dom grumbles.

“Were you this uptight when you were in Europe?” Darlene furrows her brow. “Wow, I just realized I never asked if you hooked up with anyone there.”

Dom clears her throat before taking another sip. “That’s because it’s no longer relevant.”

“Screw relevancy.” Darlene eagerly leans towards her, smirking when Dom leans away. “Gimme all the nitty gritty details. Tell me who you hooked up with.”

“I didn’t hook up with anyone.” The redhead mutters, glaring at the shelves behind the bartender.

“Liar.”

“I’m not lying.”

“Oh my God,” Darlene gapes. “Did you entangle yourself in a star-crossed fling?”

“What?” Dom stares at her.

“You fell in love with a girl,” Darlene raises her glass to her mouth. “And you embarked on this romantic rendezvous around the continent with her - but when it was time to go home, she couldn’t come with you because her heart belongs in Europe, so you had to painfully part ways.”

Dom’s laugh is biting, sarcastic. “If I fell in love with someone in Europe and went on some cross-continent tour with them, why would I bother writing you all those postcards?”

“I dunno.” Darlene shrugs. “Maybe you thought you could have one girl in Europe and a side piece back home.”

“You’re not a-” Dom cuts herself off when she spots the grin stretched wide across Darlene’s lips. “I didn’t hook up with anyone, and I definitely didn’t get... _involved_ with anyone either. I didn’t have the bandwidth for any of that. I needed to take some time for myself.”

“Ah, so it was an Eat Pray Love kinda thing. Got it.” Darlene nods in understanding, grinning again with Dom rolls her eyes. She tips her glass towards a brunette standing by the corner of the bar a few feet away. “She’s kinda hot.” When Dom ignores her, she sighs and takes a second to scan the small dark room; when she glances over her shoulder, her eyes widen and she gasps. “Oh my God, I think that’s the same blonde chick from last time.”

“What?” Dom half-turns in her seat to see, and her brow scrunches together. “No, that can’t be. Her hair was longer.”

“She could’ve cut it.” Darlene squints through the dim lights, trying to get a better look. “I’m, like, ninety-eight percent sure that’s her.”

“I think you’re just imagining things.”

“My memory is as sharp as a thumbtack, okay?” Darlene glares at her. “That’s definitely her.” She playfully swats the redhead’s shoulder. “Don’t you see? This is fate. This was meant to be.”

Dom rolls her eyes. “Since when did you start believing in fate?”

“Since now.” Darlene excitedly raises her glass in the girl’s direction. “You were brought back to the same bar on the very same day you first saw her. The stars are aligned, Dom - what are you waiting for?”

“My next drink.” Dom mutters as she flags the bartender down, and Darlene sighs in resignation.

“You’re awfully grumpy for a person who knows they’re getting laid later.”

Dom swallows hard and immediately reaches for her new drink. “Shut the hell up.”

Darlene shakes her head and takes another sip. “You are literally the most boring person I’ve ever met in my entire life.”

“And yet you’re still here.” Dom grumbles before taking a sip of her own drink, and when Darlene laughs she turns her head to stare at her. “What?”

“You’re right - I _am_ still here, and so are you.” She laughs again as Dom looks over in confusion. “Weird, isn’t it? Between now and the first night this happened, we’ve been through actual hell and back. We’ve seen the craziest, most fucked up things.” She gestures around the busy bar. “There’s a good chance that none of these people will ever experience what we experienced. Do you ever think about that sometimes?”

Dom’s eyes drop to her drink, and her brow furrows as she leans forward to rest her arms on the counter. Darlene knows that look; it’s the one Dom has whenever she’s in deep thought. Her head is slightly bent, inadvertently allowing a few strands of red hair to artfully fall over her eyes, and Darlene’s fingers twitch with the temptation to reach out and brush them away from her face. The light shining from the bar in front of them highlights the tattoos on her biceps, and Darlene resists the urge to run a hand over her skin, to feel her beneath her fingertips. As attractive as Dom looks right now, she can’t give in just yet; she wants to save the best for last.

“I do.” Dom finally replies after what feels like ages later, but her eyes are still trained on her drink. “Hard to believe that it’s been two years since all of that happened. It feels like a lifetime ago.”

“Tell me about it.” Darlene finishes her drink and waves the bartender down to order another. “In the moment, it felt like it was going to last forever. It just felt like I was going to be stuck like this for the rest of my life, with one shitty thing happening after another. There was no end…and then suddenly, it just…stopped. Whiterose offed herself, Elliot blew up a power plant, you went to Budapest…and all the bad shit just suddenly went away.”

“Not _everything_ went away.” Dom reminds her. “You still had a lot of shit to deal with afterward. There was your brother’s trial and therapy.”

“And you.” She glances at the redhead out of her peripherals; she can spot the blush on her cheeks even when she isn’t looking at her directly.

“Well, yeah.” Dom mumbles into her glass, and when Darlene laughs at her she throws her a glare. “Now what?”

“Remember the first night we came here?”

“Of course I do.” The redhead mutters. “You wouldn’t stop bothering me about my love life…or lack of one.”

Darlene shrugs. “I was trying to make conversation.”

“Out of _all_ the things you could’ve chosen to talk about, why that?” Dom rolls her eyes.

“Because it’s a good conversation starter, duh.”

“Not exactly the kind of conversation starter you’d use on someone you barely know.” Dom grumbles.

“I knew you.” Darlene protests. “You were the stuffy FBI agent who had a fetish for breathing down my neck. You’ve been doing it for weeks at that point.”

“It wasn’t a-” Dom abruptly stops when she realizes she’s speaking too loud and dramatically lowers her voice, leaning in so Darlene can hear her properly. “It wasn’t a fetish. It was my job.”

“It was your job to breathe down my neck?”

“It was my job to keep an eye on you.” The redhead narrows her eyes. “Do you think I wanted to spend all day watching you sulk through surveillance cameras?”

“You might’ve.” Darlene shrugs again. “You clearly enjoyed watching videos of my interr-”

“Don’t.” Dom warns, and Darlene laughs.

“You walked right into that one.” She sips her drink. “Are you sure you didn’t get some kind of weird turn on from watching me at the safe house?”

“No!” Dom exclaims, and she gets even more fired up when Darlene laughs at her again. “The only thing I wanted from you back then was the information you were clearly hiding from me. It wasn’t very hard to figure out you were lying.”

“Well, when you spend hours staring at someone through a camera, you’re gonna figure them out eventually.” Darlene pauses to gulp down half of her glass. “I know I kept a lot of shit from you, but I couldn’t really hide anything from you either. You always made me feel like you knew everything about me, even the stuff I wasn’t saying.” She sets her glass on the counter and stares at it. “It scared the shit out of me at first. You made me feel like I was so easy to figure out, and I didn’t like that. I thought I was pretty good at keeping people at a safe distance, including my brother, but then you walk in and suddenly I’m an open fucking book.” She shakes her head and chuckles to herself. “I dunno, maybe it’s because you’re an FBI agent and you’re paid to figure people like me out, but it was weird. I wasn’t used to it.”

The redhead frowns. “This is gonna sound really dumb, but I kind of always felt like I knew you.” She awkwardly clears her throat and takes a sip of her drink. “Even before we talked and I only knew you through pictures and reports, it just felt like you’ve always been there.” She runs a hand through her hair and shakes her head, laughing nervously. “God, that sounds so weird. It makes me look like a creep.”

“It kinda does,” Darlene grins, but it fades quickly and her eyes soften. “But it also doesn’t. Maybe that’s why I always felt like you knew me so well. You kind of just…already knew me.”

“That just makes me sound creepier.” Dom mutters.

“It doesn’t.” Darlene insists. “Look, I still think fate is a bullshit concept. If it actually existed, that means we’d have absolutely no control over our lives. Everything we do would have a predetermined outcome and it wouldn’t really be much of a life at all; we’d just be following instructions until we hit our expiry date,” She pauses for a second to swivel around in her seat so that her whole body is facing her; she props an elbow on the counter and rests her cheek in her palm. “But I think there are some people that were just meant to be a part of our lives. We were always supposed to know them.”

“So you _kind of_ believe in fate, then.” Dom smirks. “If you think that I was always meant to be a part of your life, that’s kind of like a predetermined outcome, right?So that would mean it was fate that I’d meet you someday.”

“I guess,” Darlene shrugs. “But I think there’s still some uncertainty. Maybe a part of us unconsciously knew that we would always be a part of each other’s lives, but we didn’t know what parts we’d play, and depending on the choices we made, those parts could’ve been different. We may not have ended up the way we are right now if this night turned out differently. What if I actually stole your badge, or what if I decided not to steal it at all? Would we still be here two years later having this conversation?”

“So…maybe it’s more accurate to say that life is kind of a mix of both predetermined outcomes and spontaneity. You’re following instructions, but sometimes you’re missing the pieces you’re looking for, or maybe you’ll find extra pieces that weren’t part of the original design. You’re forced to improvise some parts, and some parts you just go by the book.”

“Wow, how philosophical of you. I’m impressed.” Darlene’s eyebrows are high on her forehead, and when Dom blushes she laughs. “So, if you felt like you always knew me, how did you feel when you actually met me? Was it weird?”

“Yes and no.” Dom finishes her drink and pushes her glass away. “When I saw you and Cisco in that diner, it was strange. I already knew what you looked like because I’ve seen millions of photos of you-”

“This really isn’t helping you look any less creepy.”

“Shut up - but when I actually saw you in person for the first time, it sort of felt like...” Dom sucks in a breath. “You know that feeling you get when you run into someone from high school, and you feel obligated to strike up a conversation, but you were never friends so you don’t really know what to talk about? It was kind of like that.”

“So, you felt like you were running into an old acquaintance?”

“Kind of. There was something familiar and unfamiliar about you at the exact same time.” Dom rakes her fingers through her hair. “What about you? I know you didn’t feel the same way at first, but did you feel…anything later on?”

“I didn’t feel anything at first because I was too caught up in everything else that was going on at the time to really pay attention,” The bartender swings by and Darlene orders another round for the both of them. “But I think I always felt that way about you - about you knowing everything about me and shit. I just didn’t want to admit at first. Like I said, I wasn’t used to it. No one’s ever made me feel that way before, so I didn’t know what to do about it.”

“But you liked it eventually?” Dom blinks.

“I mean, yeah.” Darlene shrugs. “When I stopped being a dick about it, I realized that if you already knew everything about me, then that means I wouldn’t have to pretend around you. I don’t have to put up any kind of front. I could just…be me, I guess.” She picks up her glass and stares at it for a second, rolling her wrist and watching the amber liquor slosh around. “The thing is, being yourself around anyone is fucking terrifying. You don’t know how that other person’s gonna react. You don’t know if they’ll hate you or think you’re weird or whatever.” She takes a sip. “I couldn’t be myself around Cisco, at least not all the time. He and I have been on and off way before fsociety was a thing, but even before all of that happened I could never fully trust him. His history with the Dark Army goes way back; I guess you can say he was more committed to them than he was with me.”

Dom frowns. “If he was committed to the Dark Army, why did he join fsociety?”

Darlene shrugs. “For me, I guess. He wanted this to work and he tried really hard, but his head was so far up the Dark Army’s ass that I don’t think he was ever going to be able to pull himself out. Before me and fsociety, the Dark Army was all he had. They were his weird, fucked up version of a family. They made him feel like he belonged somewhere.” A dark, low chuckle escapes her lips as she shakes her head. “When we met, I was in between places. I didn’t really have anywhere else to go, so when we started dating I guess I just felt like I had to be with him because he was the closest thing to feeling like someone actually wanted me around. Maybe with me he felt like the Dark Army wasn’t his only option after all, and that it’s possible to feel at home with someone else, but I don’t think I was that _someone else_ he was looking for; he just settled for me because I was the first person outside the Dark Army who made him feel that way. I guess that’s what kept us together for so long; we didn’t fit anywhere else, and we didn’t really fit together either, but we pretended we did because we didn’t have anything else. We forced ourselves to fit.”

“He loved you, though.” Dom reaches for her glass. “He showed it in weird ways but I think he really did care about you. He wouldn’t have asked you to marry him if he didn’t.”

“People get married for all sorts of fucked up reasons. It’s not always for love.” Darlene counters. “Look at my parents. They obviously didn’t love each other and I don’t think they ever did, but by law they were recognized as a couple. Some fancy piece of paper with their signatures on it states that they’re in love and they’re meant to be together forever, but Elliot and I will be the first people to tell you that none of that is true.”

“So, why do you think he proposed to you?”

“Because of what I mentioned before: Everything about our lives sucked, but things _kind of_ didn’t suck when we were together, so we might as well get hitched, right?” Darlene scoffs. “He’d make me laugh and he’d talk about going to Budapest together, and for a little while things would feel okay and I’d think to myself that maybe this can work out after all...but when things got bad, they got _really_ bad.”

“Like when he sent the Dark Army photos of you sleeping and you hit him in the head with a baseball bat?” Dom snidely adds in, and Darlene snorts.

“Pretty much.” She mutters. “He tried his best to be patient with me, but he had his limits, and I was always pushing them. We never sat down and talked things out like how you and I do; we’d throw things at each other, I’d hit him with whatever I could grab first, and there was a lot of yelling. We would say all these terrible things to each other, and then...” She shrugs. “We’d have our space for a bit, and we’d get back together and pretend none of it ever happened. We’d shove it under the rug and things will be sort of okay again until the next fight. It reminded me of the relationship my parents had, and I think that just made me even less motivated to try harder with him, but at the same time I didn’t want to leave because it was all I knew.” Darlene takes another sip. “I grew up seeing my parents treat each other like that. I thought that this was just how relationships were supposed to look like: You fight a lot and sometimes you get hurt really bad, but you stay together anyway because maybe it’s all you’ll ever get.” She shakes her head. “What we had was far from perfect but a part of me kept telling myself that it was better than being alone.”

“But you’re better now.” Dom points out. “You can handle doing things on your own.”

“Yeah,” Darlene nods in agreement before casting a small smile in her direction. “And I have you.”

Dom clears her throat and diverts her gaze from her. “You learned to be okay on your own without my help.”

“But you taught me that relationships actually _aren’t_ supposed to be terrible and toxic.” Darlene shrugs again. “When Cisco and I disagreed on something, we never had the patience to listen to each other. We only wanted to hear ourselves talk. With you...” She vaguely gestures in the redhead’s direction. “It’s different. You never bit my head off or made me feel like I couldn’t say anything to you. You listen to me, and...” She drops her head a little, her index finger idly running back and forth across the rim of her glass. “It makes me feel like I have something worth saying, even if it’s stupid. You’re not just waiting for your turn to speak; you actually want to hear what I have to say. It makes me want to do the same for you.” She raises a hand to brush the hair away from her face. “He couldn’t figure me out. No one really could, including myself - but you did, somehow. You just walk into my life one night and you instantly know everything about me, and maybe I didn’t like it at first but now I know that it’s a good thing, because that means that I actually _do_ belong somewhere, and I actually matter after all.”

“Of course you matter.” Dom’s voice is soft. “You always did.”

Darlene is still staring down at her drink. “The last serious fight Cisco and I ever had, he basically chewed me out for fucking things up with Susan and fsociety. He told me that I wasn’t special, and it really got under my skin. He said way worse things to me before, but this hurt the most for some reason. It made me feel like it didn’t really matter if I was comfortable enough to be myself around him, because no matter who I was, he wouldn’t give a shit either way. I could be a different version of myself every time I saw him, and he’ll always find something to hate.” There’s a brief pause. “But with you, I never felt like that. Even when you’re mad at me, you still make me feel like it’s okay to be myself around you. I know there’s shit about me that you don’t always agree with, but you don’t ream me out for it - well, there was that one time after your boss died, but that doesn’t really count anymore.”

“You’re never going to like everything about a person.” Dom chimes in. “There’s always going to be something about them that you don’t agree with. If you find someone and you find more things you like than dislike about them, you stick around and find ways to work around the things you don’t like. If they do the same for you, then…” She shrugs. “That’s when you know it’s worth all the trouble.”

Darlene casts her a small smile. “You’re the only person I’ve ever been with who was patient enough to figure out how to work around the stuff that no one really liked. You find ways to appreciate the not-so-great parts. Even I can’t do it sometimes, so kudos to you.” She jokingly raises her glass, and Dom chuckles. “You make me feel...safe, but not in the boring way. You make me feel safe in the sense that I can do anything, and even if I fuck up, you’ll still want me around, and you won’t rub my failure in my face.” She turns her head away, swallowing hard as she forces her eyes to fixate on the row of liquor bottles behind the bartender; putting her heart on her sleeve in the middle of a busy bar wasn’t exactly on her list of things to do for tonight. “You’re the only one who’s ever made me feel that way.”

Dom slides a hand over her knee, gripping reassuringly, and when Darlene glances at her and spots the soft smile on her face, her insecurity is instantly wiped away. “That’s all I ever wanted you to feel when you’re around me.”

Darlene reaches for her hand and weaves their fingers together, smiling back before jostling their entwined hands. “You’re doing a pretty bang up job, if I do say so myself.”

The redhead chuckles. “Thanks for the performance review.”

“No problem.” Darlene flashes her a grin, but it quickly fades away. “That day upstate, when Irving killed your boss and you said all that shit about me being a terrible person...it was the wake up call I needed to get my shit together. I mean, it still took me a really long time to _actually_ get my shit together, but that’s when I realized that I had to start doing something about it.” She swallows hard. “I didn’t want to hurt you, Dom. If there was any other way, I would’ve done it instantly. I wouldn’t have done it if I felt like I had another option.”

“I know.” Dom squeezes her hand.

“You were the only friend I had after Cisco died. Elliot was doing his own thing, Angela was already starting to lose it, and I didn’t really have anyone in fsociety to turn to in a way that didn't involve getting fucked up. It killed me to know that I had to do that to you.” She sighs. “You trusted me, and you were there for me when you didn’t need to be, but...” She shakes her head. “I’m just... _really_ glad that you’re still here after all the shit I did to you. Stealing your badge, forcing you to work for the Dark Army, putting your family in danger, last year’s Thanksgiving - I’ve gone past the point of no return a billion times, yet you still stick around. You’re either insane, desperate, or both.”

Dom’s laughs, but there’s a nervous tremor to it. “In case you haven’t figured it out yet, you’re special to me.” She pulls her hand away from Darlene’s so she can finish her drink. “You call me out on my shit and you tell me what I need to hear. You put the brakes on when I’m going too fast and you remind me to loosen up every once in awhile.” She raises a hand to her hair. “You’re exactly what I need, and I didn’t even realize I needed you until I was assigned the Five/Nine case and I saw your dumb face for the first time.”

Darlene almost feels like screaming out of excitement. It’s like there’s round after round of fireworks exploding in the pit of her stomach. She’s well aware of how much Dom cares about her, but that doesn’t mean she’s tired of hearing it. Just knowing that there’s someone out there who actually gives a shit about her, someone who’ll never give up on her, someone who loves every bit of her, including the parts she can’t bring herself to like - it’s a feeling like no other. It’s so wonderful, so liberating to be loved unconditionally, and she never thought she’d find it, especially in a socially awkward, Girl Scout-y, unimaginative, impossibly stubborn FBI agent. She’s the least deserving of this kind of attention, yet she has it anyway. How fucking lucky is she?

But, of course, she’s never going to say any of this out loud, so she does this instead:

“Oh my God.” Darlene’s eyes widen with a sudden realization.

“What?” There’s worry etched all over the redhead’s face.

“Dom, am I the girl of your dreams?” Darlene gasps dramatically, and when a dark red blush quickly spreads across Dom’s cheeks she throws her head back to laugh. “Holy shit. I can’t believe I’m the love of your life.”

“I never said that.”

“You didn’t have to - your face says it all.”

“I hate you.” Dom mutters. _“So_ fucking much.”

“Biggest fucking lie of the century.” Darlene’s still laughing. “Do I have to bring up the time I visited you in the hospital and you were hopped up on morphine?”

“No, you absolutely do not need to do that.” Dom groans. “You know that this means _I’m_ the love of _your_ life too, right?”

“Oh, trust me, I know. It’s so gross.” She grins. “But guess what?”

Dom heaves a sigh. “What?”

Darlene’s grin stretches wider as she raises a hand to point to herself. “This dumb face is yours _forever.”_

Dom rolls her eyes as her blush significantly worsens, and it only makes Darlene laugh harder. “Can you go back to when you thought the whole _love is forever_ thing was bullshit?”

“Nah, I’m good.” She bats her eyelashes at her, biting her bottom lip to suppress another laugh when Dom gulps. “I mean, it still kinda does sound like bullshit, but I dunno - if I really am the love of your life, I don’t think I’d totally hate it if it _wasn’t_ bullshit either.”

Dom swallows again and reaches up to rustle her hair. She quickly reaches for Darlene’s glass and finishes the rest of her drink. “Are you ready to go? It’s getting late.”

Her body language and the change in subject only make Darlene want to laugh at her some more, but she holds her tongue for now because she’s embarrassed Dom enough times tonight and they still have an entire scene to act out back at her apartment. “Yup.” She hops off her stool and bends over to pick up her backpack. “The bill’s on you, just like last time.”

The redhead rolls her eyes again. “Am I allowed to change what I said about you being special to me?”

“Nope.” After Dom throws a few bills on the table Darlene grabs her by the hand and pulls her through the crowd, laughing the entire way to the entrance. When they’re finally back outside and on the sidewalk, she turns around so that she’s facing the redhead, glancing up at her as she throws her arms around her neck. “You said what you said. No takesies-backsies.”

Dom leans in a little closer, touching her forehead with her own. “You’re an asshole.”

“Really?” Darlene furrows her brow in disappointment. “Is that how you’re gonna speak to the love of your life?”

The redhead groans. “You really need to stop calling yourself that.”

“What else am I supposed to call myself?” Darlene quirks an eyebrow. “The girl of your dreams? Your one true love? Your potential forever fuck buddy? The last lay you might ever have?”

“Oh my God, just shut up already-” Dom rolls her eyes for the millionth time just as she leans in to kiss her, but when Darlene shakes her head and steps away she stares back in confusion. “What?”

“Not yet.” She reaches for her hand again and drags her down the street towards the closest subway station. “We need to head back to your place first.”

“Seriously?”

“This needs to be as accurate as possible, Dom.” Darlene’s tone is exasperated. “Get with the program already, geez.”

“You’re really gonna make me wait?” Dom groans as Darlene approaches the steps to the subway.

“Yes,“ She throws her another grin before tugging her down the stairs. “And it’s gonna be worth it. Just trust me.”

* * *

Dom pushes the door open and Darlene saunters in after her. The dim ceiling light partially illuminates the freshly renovated apartment, shining down on the polished cherry hardwood floors, the new furniture, and the forest green walls. She throws Dom a grin as she makes her way towards the table, dumping her backpack on one of the chairs and shedding her flannel shirt, leaving her in a pair of black overalls. “Nice digs.”

“Thanks.” Dom chuckles as she heads over to the kitchen and opens the fridge. It’s sleek with chrome now, but it’s still littered with magnets; one of them is supporting a single piece of paper with the words _BUY CHEESE_ scrawled in large capital letters, and a few more are holding up printed versions of a few selfies Darlene forced Dom to take with her: Walking hand in hand by the riverside after a delicious Valentines Day dinner at a fancy Brazillian steakhouse, cuddling with Trudie’s dog during their Easter weekend visit to Philly, kissing the terrified redhead on the cheek inside of the Wonder Wheel at Coney Island (“Dominique DiPierro, FBI agent extraordinaire, is afraid of heights?”; “Are you aware of how fucking high we are right now, Darlene? _Ohhhhh_ my God, oh God, holy shit-”; “Calm down. Just keep your eyes on me.”; “Jesus H, is that rust? I see rust. How fucking old is this thing? How often do they do safety inspections?”; “Okay, maybe this was a bad idea.“). “You were right, by the way - this place did need a makeover. I actually don’t hate myself every time I walk through the door anymore.”

“I’m always right.” Darlene jests as Dom pops a couple bottles of beer open. She smiles when the redhead shuffles back to her and hands her one, and when they clink their drinks together in a toast she glances over her shoulder to stare at the desk before taking a sip. “This is the part where you talk about your best friend.”

“What?” Dom peers over Darlene’s shoulder to see what she’s looking at, and when she spots Alexa sitting next to her laptop she rolls her eyes. “I can’t exactly ask for the Daily Five/Nine anymore.”

“So,” Darlene throws her a sly grin. “Ask about something else.”

The redhead blinks. “Like what?”

“The hell should I know? She’s your sad substitute for human companionship.” Darlene snorts. She can’t help but think back to the first night and how proud Dom looked when she showed Alexa off. That stupid grin on her face and the way her eyes lit up as the little talking speaker dictated the news headlines for the day made her look so innocent, so youthful and vibrant; it was the first time Darlene saw her fully break through that stoic, serious FBI agent persona she always put up. It humanized her, which made things so much harder. It amplified the guilt that was already screaming inside of her.

Fuck, she is _so_ fucking glad all of that is over now.

“Uh,” Dom blinks rapidly as she tries to think of a task for Alexa to accomplish. “Alexa, what’s the weather like?”

Darlene narrows her eyes as Alexa prattles on about the humidity. “Seriously? That’s all you can come up with?”

“What else did you want me to ask her?” Dom is exasperated. “Did you want her to order toilet paper or something?”

The helplessness in her expression almost makes Darlene choke on her drink from laughing so hard. “You are so fucking useless.” She shakes her head and sets her drink on the nearby table. “Fine, I guess we can skip to the part where the music comes on.”

Dom sighs. “Alexa, play John Prine.”

“Shuffling songs by John Prine.” There’s a beat of silence, then the strum of a guitar.

“Oh, so you remember _something_ about that night after all.” Darlene’s tone is laced with sarcasm, and her grin widens when the redhead awkwardly clears her throat and looks away. “What?”

Dom’s fingers nervously drum against her beer bottle. “This part is kind of hard to forget.”

Embarrassed Dom is Darlene’s favourite Dom. She’s awkward enough as it is, but the awkwardness is cranked to an eleven when she’s embarrassed, and Darlene lives for it. There’s something about the way her body language stiffens, how she can’t seem to remember what eye contact is, and how her hand suddenly becomes one with her hair that excites her like no other. It’s an unconventional turn on, that’s for sure, but since when has anything about their relationship been normal anyway?

The best part about Embarrassed Dom is when she starts rambling, but Darlene has to get the ball rolling first, so she takes a single step closer and tilts her head a little, gazing at her beneath heavy lidded eyes. “Why?”

Dom gulps, and Darlene suppresses the urge to smirk at her. “You know why.”

“I do, but I wanna hear it from you.”

Dom groans. “Do I have to?”

“Tonight is also a night for reflection, Dom.” Darlene explains with a grin. “This is a safe space. You can say anything you want and I won’t judge you - at least not as much as I usually do.”

Dom is standing just a couple feet away, clutching her drink with one hand, and her back is as straight as a board. Her eyes are wandering the room, desperately looking for something to fixate on, and her mouth is twisted in an uncomfortable grimace. It’s the cutest fucking thing Darlene has ever seen. “I have a question.”

This suddenly got a lot more interesting. “Ask away.”

“When this...” The redhead vaguely gestures with her free hand. _“Thing_ happened, and you realized you couldn’t distract me with some other girl and you had to use yourself as the distraction, did you...um,” Her hand jumps to her hair, and Darlene bites her bottom lip in an attempt to contain the rapidly inflating affection blowing up inside of her. “Did you have to...I dunno, psych yourself into thinking that you wanted this to happen?”

Darlene furrows her brow. “What, like I had to pretend I wanted to be here with you or something?”

“Yeah.” Dom shrugs; she still hasn’t made eye contact. “Was there a moment when you realized that this was the only way you were gonna get what you wanted, and you had to, like, take a second to prepare for it?”

Her expression is doubtful, almost sheepish; she looks like a child having difficulty admitting to an important secret, like she’s trying to tell her she was the one who stole from the cookie jar. Something about it melts Darlene’s heart. “Where is this coming from?”

The redhead shrugs again. “I mean, I’m assuming this is something you planned out and didn’t just do on the fly. You probably had this as a backup plan in case you couldn’t find anyone at the bar, right?” Dom runs a hand through her hair. “We have backup plans in case our first plan doesn’t work out. It’s not the most ideal option, but we’ll still do it if there’s a chance it’ll work, so...” Her fingers continue to sift through her red tresses. “How did you prepare for it? Was it just a case of separating yourself from the job, or...?”

Darlene can feel a painful twinge in her chest. Dom’s obviously been thinking about this for awhile. “Were you not paying attention to the conversation we had at the bar?” She lets out a small, sad laugh. “Dom, I told you - you were the only person I could talk to. That night was the first good time I’ve had in awhile; it made me feel like it was possible to feel good again. I felt bad about stealing from you for a reason.”

It’s Dom’s turn to laugh, though hers is shakier and quieter. “I still find that really hard to believe.”

“I didn’t say those things because I thought it would stop you from killing me at Angela’s, and I definitely wasn’t pretending to like you.” Darlene insists. “I meant all of it. You know that, right?”

“I do, but...” Dom laughs again. “God, this is gonna sound so stupid, but I can’t think of a better way to explain it.”

“I don’t care.” Darlene takes another step closer. “Say it.”

“It’s kinda like...” Her eyes jump to the ceiling as she continues to rumple her hair. “Like...when you were in high school, and you really, _really_ liked this one girl. You have the same classes but she doesn’t know you exist. You don’t have the same friends and you probably don’t share the same interests either, but you’re drawn to her anyway. There’s no way in hell she’d ever give you a chance but it’s also the same reason why you can’t stop thinking about her. It’s almost like...I dunno, being unattainable only makes you want her more.” Dom swallows hard and takes a generous sip of her beer before placing it on the table next to Darlene’s. “And then, one day, out of the blue, she finally looks at you and says hi, and it’s like...what cosmic accident must’ve happened out there in order for her to finally notice you? There’s no logical or scientific explanation; it’s just coincidence that she decided to look your way and say hello - and you’re panicking because what if this is the only shot you have? What if you only get this one chance to get her to see how much she means to you, and you blow it? So you’re standing there, stuttering like some idiot, trying to figure out what to do, and she’s looking at you, and-”

This is why the rambling is Darlene’s favourite part.

She steps in and curls a hand behind Dom’s neck, abruptly pulling her down mid-sentence to cut her off with a kiss. Dom eagerly leans into it, placing her hands on her waist and pulling her closer. She can barely hear John Prine’s crooning in the distance, almost like Alexa’s playing the music from a million miles away.

When they finally pull apart, Darlene keeps her hand on the back of Dom’s neck. She touches her forehead with her own and throws her a small smile.

“Hi.” She whispers.

Dom laughs and pulls her even closer, swallowing as Darlene slowly rubs her thumb against the skin behind her ear. “Hi.”

“I don’t know where you got this idea that _I’m_ out of your league.” Darlene snorts. “I’m not in any fucking league at all. I barely qualify for it.”

“Right.” Dom nods. “You’re the one outside the stadium selling counterfeit tickets.”

“I take offence to that.” Darlene narrows her eyes. “But seriously, Dom - it’s the other way around. You’re this badass FBI agent. You killed three people with a knife-shaped hole in your fucking chest. _You’re_ out of _my_ league.”

“You started an entire revolution.” The redhead raises an eyebrow. “You stole money from the world’s richest and gave it back to the people. I’ve watched you bring people down with just a few keystrokes.”

Darlene laughs again. “So is that it, then? We just thought we were too cool for each other, and that’s why this took so long?”

“I guess so.” Dom shrugs.

“Well, whatever the reason is,” Darlene grins up at her. “You’re the one who decided to downgrade by going for the scalper selling fake tickets.”

“You’re not a downgrade.” Dom rolls her eyes. “Compared to what my life was like before all of this happened, you’re a very big upgrade.” She shakes her head. “Isn’t this the part where I shove you off and tell you this is unprofessional?”

Darlene chuckles and leans in so that the ends of their noses bump together. “How about we skip that and go straight to the part where I kiss you again?”

“But then I’d have to push you away again.”

“Why are you only deciding to play by the rules _now?”_ She throws her head back and groans as she winds both arms around Dom’s torso. “Congratulations, you ruined the moment.”

“That’s what I do best.” Dom grins, and Darlene rolls her eyes before heaving a sigh and moving in bury her face into her neck. She closes her eyes and hums quietly, listening to John Prine as Dom’s pulse gently thuds against her cheek. When she feels the redhead slip her arms around her waist, she smiles; it feels like she’s glowing from the inside, like there’s a bright light casting its warmth on every inch of her. She feels illuminated, radiant, whole; she’s the only planet in Dom’s galaxy and she’s lucky enough to revolve around her, to steal all of that warmth and light for herself.

“What are you thinking about?” Dom pipes up again, and the glow inside of her brightens significantly. She’s never going to get sick of her asking that question.

“How nice this is.” Darlene mumbles as she languidly sways to the music.

She feels Dom press a kiss to her hair. “We never danced together before.”

“I never pegged you for a dancer.”

“That’s because I’m not one.” The redhead snorts. “But...you’ve always made me do things I don’t normally do anyway, so this works.”

“Like forcing you to become a mole for the Dark Army and a witness to the greatest redistribution of wealth in history?”

Dom laughs. “Yeah, exactly.” She squeezes her waist and rests her chin on top of her head. “Did you ever think we’d end up here, like this?”

Darlene takes a second before responding to her. “I’m still trying to get over the fact that I survived all the shit we went through in the first place.” She pauses. “But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think about it.”

“You did?”

“Yeah.” Darlene’s voice is slightly muffled against Dom’s neck. “I spent a lot of time after that day upstate thinking about all the different things I could’ve done. What if I didn’t steal your badge? What if I treated Cisco better, or what if I actually tried to be there for Angela when she needed me?” She shakes her head. “I’d ask myself the same questions over and over again. I couldn’t get them to stop. The only way I’d get any peace and quiet is if I got fucked up.” There’s another pause. “Anyways, when I thought about how different my life could’ve been if I didn’t try to steal from you, I thought that, I dunno - maybe there’d be a chance we could end up being friends at the very least. It didn’t matter what the outcome was; I just wanted you around in some shape or form.” She sighs. “It’s been a really long time since I actually enjoyed being around someone. You were a dick in the beginning, and I got why - you were just doing your job...but when you weren’t doing your job and you were just being you, things were good.”

Dom laughs nervously. “You were the first person I hung out with outside of work in years, so I’m kind of in the same boat.” She shrugs. “I guess that’s why that night felt so easy at first, because...I dunno. Maybe we both just wanted to not be alone for once.”

“That just makes everything sound super sad.” Darlene shakes her head. “I mean, yeah, sure - maybe we both just didn’t want to be alone, but there’s obviously more to it, right? We said at the bar that we always felt like we were supposed to be a part of each other’s lives.”

“There’s more to it _now_ , but back then? It’s hard to say.” Dom sighs. “We didn’t know what we were to each other yet, and there was so much going on at the time. Cisco just died. We made you spy on your brother. The Dark Army forced your friends into hiding and they ended up murdering them anyway. We stuck you in a safe house by yourself where you were constantly monitored. The only person you were regularly in contact with was me.”

“So what, the only reason why we became friends was because you were the only available option at the time?” Darlene scoffs.

“Well, yeah.” Dom shrugs again. “Be honest with me, Darlene: If Cisco survived, or if we were never forced to work together, do you think we’d still find a way to talk?”

Darlene steps away from her, shaking her head in disbelief. “Sure we would. What kind of question is that?”

“Really?” Dom raises an eyebrow. “You’d go out of your way to befriend an FBI agent whose job is to track you down and arrest you for all the crimes you committed?”

She isn’t wrong, and Darlene hates her for it. She swallows hard and looks away, glaring at the wall. “You have to give me more credit than that. I’m not here with you right now just because Plan A didn’t pan out and I had no other choice. I’m here because I want to be.”

“But Plan A _didn’t_ pan out.” Dom sighs. “That’s why you’re here in the first place.”

“Then maybe it’s a good thing Plan A didn’t work. Maybe it was never supposed to work.” Darlene can feel her eyes stinging and she clenches her teeth in an attempt to make it go away. “Maybe it’s possible that our backup plan can end up becoming our first choice. We think it’s just a last resort, but...maybe it’s the one thing we really need. Maybe it was actually supposed to be our Plan A all along.” She swallows again and sucks in a breath. “I _hate_ thinking about you not being in my life. I can’t fucking stand it.”

Dom pulls her in for another embrace, wrapping her arms around her waist and holding her close. “I know.” She murmurs against her hair. “I don’t like thinking about it either.”

“You not being here was never an option. You were always going to be here, even though I acted like I didn’t want you around at first.” Darlene’s hands tighten into fists. “I don’t give a shit if this was fate or if it really happened by accident. It doesn’t mean it matters any less - if anything, it should mean more, because if it happened by accident then maybe it’s the universe’s fucked up way of saying that this needed to happen.”

“You’re really on with the whole fate thing tonight, aren’t you?” Dom laughs, and Darlene glares at her as she angrily swipes at her eyes with the back of her hand.

“Shut up, I’m being serious.” Darlene pouts and squeezes her eyes shut when the redhead leans in to press a kiss against her temple. “Maybe that girl you thought was out of your league was just waiting for you to say hi first. Did you ever think about that?”

“See, this is why we missed each other at the airport.” Dom laughs again as she reaches up to wipe away the last of Darlene’s tears. “Another happy accident, by the way.”

“Is that the entire basis of our relationship?” Darlene mutters. “Everything’s just one big giant accident?”

“Well, like you said,” Dom squeezes her waist. “Tonight was sort of like the big bang that started everything, and the actual Big Bang was pretty much an accident, so...yeah. I guess everything is just one giant accident.” She leans back just enough so she can smile at her. “But you were also right when you said that accidents don’t mean any less than something that was planned to happen. Maybe we were going in the wrong direction and the universe felt like it needed to step in. It could still be fate...while also being an accident. It could be both happening at the same time.”

“Whatever it is, I’m just glad things ended up the way they did.” Darlene throws her arms around Dom’s middle and tilts her head back so she can glare up at her. “You were never just my backup plan or my last resort. I didn’t just settle for you because you were the only option I had left. Maybe I didn’t know you were my Plan A from the very beginning, but I know that you are now, and that’s what matters most. I choose you, okay? I want you here.” She swallows hard. “That first night might’ve started off with me just wanting something from you, but it ended up being way more than that, and that’s why it hurt so much when we stopped talking. I couldn’t handle you not being here, even though it was my fault you left in the first place.”

“Well, you don’t have to worry about me not being there anymore, because I’m not going anywhere without you.” Dom leans in so that their foreheads are touching, and Darlene raises her hands to frame her face. “I thought about you every single day when I was in Europe. I tried not to, but no matter what I did, something would always lead me back to you. I’d be eating somewhere and I’d start thinking about what you would’ve ordered from the menu,” She chuckles to herself and shakes her head. “Or I’d be in a museum looking at some of the most prolific historical artifacts in human history, and I‘d just hear you in my head talking shit about all of them, then I’d start laughing out of nowhere. All of the other tourists probably thought I was crazy.”

Darlene swallows hard as her eyes glaze over with tears again; she forces herself to laugh so she doesn’t feel so stupid. “I still don’t believe you when you said you didn’t hook up with anyone.”

“I didn’t.” Dom insists, her tone firm at first, but her expression wavers. “I...came close a few times, but I never went through with it.”

“Why?” Darlene’s thumbs are gently running back and forth across the redhead’s cheeks.

“Because,” Dom shrugs. “None of them were you.”

The tears come back full force, and Darlene laughs again as they spill over her eyelids and trickle down her cheeks. “You deserve to fool around a bit, especially after all of the shit I put you through, and it wasn’t like we were together or anything yet. You were on vacation, Dom; you could’ve done whatever or whoever the fuck you wanted.”

“And what I wanted was you.” Dom’s tone is so casual, like she’s telling her something that she should already know. She gently pries Darlene’s hands away from her face before brushing her tears away. “I was in a completely different continent, surrounded by millions of strangers every single day, and I couldn’t find a single person who held my attention long enough to make me forget you.”

Darlene can feel her chest painfully contracting. “What did you mean when you said you came close a few times?”

“I meant that it was _very_ close to happening,” Dom sheepishly admits. “But just as it was going to happen, you pop back into my head and I remember that this person isn’t you.”

“So what,” Darlene snorts. “You’d be doing some drunken heavy petting in a bar bathroom, and then you suddenly remember that this random stranger you’re almost going to fuck isn’t actually me?” When she eyes the flustered expression on Dom’s face, she laughs. “Really? How many times did this happen?”

“A lot more than I want to admit, and that’s all you’re gonna get so you better stop asking.” Dom sighs and pulls her in a little closer so that their foreheads are touching again. “My point is that you have been at the forefront of everything, even when I didn’t want you to be. You not being around was never an option for me either.” She casts her a small smile. “You’re my accidental Plan A too.”

The painful contractions in Darlene’s chest suddenly turn into something warmer and lighter. She returns Dom’s smile before she pushes herself up on her tiptoes so she can kiss her again. When they pull apart seconds later, she remains close, her lips brushing against hers.

“I like you.” She murmurs, and the pair break into a fit of hushed laughter. She tangles her fingers with Dom’s messy red hair, keeping her close.

“I like you too.” Dom whispers before she moves in for another kiss.

“You didn’t say that the first time.” Darlene mumbles against her mouth.

“It was implied.” Dom mumbles back, shifting her hands to grasp at Darlene’s hips.

“Oh, okay,” Darlene rolls her eyes. “So I was just supposed to read your mind and figure it out for myself. Got it.”

“Yup.” Dom is too busy mouthing Darlene’s neck to argue. She pushes forward, forcing Darlene to step back until her back is pressed against the wall. She leaves a trail of kisses from her jaw all the way down to her collarbone, nipping at the flesh there while firmly pinning her to the wall by her hips.

Darlene closes her eyes and gasps at the contact, but she forces herself to remain in the present; one of her hands sink lower, her fingers skimming the hem of Dom’s t-shirt before they reach for her belt. When she feels the hard plastic of her identification badge, the corners of her mouth curl upwards in a mischievous grin, and with one quick flick of her wrist, she finally steals it.

“Yes!” She ducks away from Dom’s grasp and moves towards the bedroom.

The redhead stares back in confusion. “What?”

She waves the badge in the air. “Look what I got.”

Dom rolls her eyes, but she’s laughing. “Seriously?”

“You should be proud of me.” Darlene smirks as Dom makes her way towards her closet. “Sure, it might’ve taken two years, but I finally fucking did it.”

Dom unlocks the safe and reaches behind to unfasten her holster. She pulls out her pistol and double-checks the safety before releasing the clip. Darlene ogles her for a second, unable to help herself; sure, all cops are bastards, but she’s not going to pretend that Dom handling a gun isn’t unashamedly sexy.

When Dom places her gun and holster inside the safe, she spins around to face her and holds out a hand. “Alright, hand it over.”

Darlene scoffs. “You really think I’m just gonna give it to you after all the trouble I went through to get it?”

Dom narrows her eyes. “Don’t make me arrest you again.”

Darlene peers over her shoulder to glance into the open safe. “You got a pair of handcuffs in there? It might make things a little more fun.”

Dom’s face instantly goes red. “Can you just give it, please?”

Darlene takes a second to pretend to think it over. “Yeah...I’m not gonna do that.”

Dom heaves a sigh and steps towards her. When Darlene takes a few steps back, her expression sours. “C’mon, Darlene. I’m not kidding around.”

Darlene teasingly dangles the badge in front of her, waving it left and right. “Come and get it then, if you want it so bad.”

The redhead doesn’t look pleased, but she lunges forward anyway, reaching for the badge. Darlene yelps and backs away just in time, laughing obnoxiously as she scrambles into the bedroom and leaps on top of the new queen-sized mattress they bought a few months ago. Dom quickly catches up with her, jumping up on the bed and grabbing her wrists.

“Are you gonna use one of your cheap cop takedown moves on me?” Darlene grunts as she feebly tries to push Dom off; she forgot how insanely strong she is.

“No.” Dom doesn’t even sound like she’s breaking a sweat. She suddenly crouches down and grabs Darlene’s right thigh with her left hand, pulling up so that her leg is bent and hitched against her hip; she dips her right leg in between both of hers, slides it around the calf of her left leg from the back, and kicks backwards, forcing Darlene up in the air. Dom quickly slips her right hand around her waist just as she begins to fall back, quickly but gently lowering her onto the mattress. All of this happens under five seconds.

“What the fuck was that?” Darlene gasps; she’s too distracted with figuring out if she’s more turned on or surprised to notice Dom prying the badge out of her hand. “You said you weren’t gonna use a cop move!”

“That wasn’t a cop move.” Dom backs away from the bed and swiftly makes her way over to the safe to finally lock her badge and gun away. When she’s done, she crawls back on top of her; her lips are tilted in an irritating, but also inhumanely attractive smirk. “That was taekwondo.”

Jesus fucking Christ. “So what, are you this secret martial arts master too?”

And just like that, Cocky But Also Really Fucking Hot Dom is gone, and Unbearably Adorable Embarrassed Rambling Dom makes a comeback. “What?” She backs away a bit, spluttering with nervous laughter. “No, I only know a few moves.” She pauses for a second and laughs again. “Well, okay, that’s a lie. In Quantico they made us do, like, one hundred hours or something on hand-to-hand combat. Taewkondo actually wasn’t part of the lesson plan but I wanted to learn it anyway ‘cause I knew another agent who had a black belt in it, and it looked like it would be useful someday so I-”

Darlene quickly grabs her by the face and pulls her in for a kiss. She‘s tingling with arousal, and Dom’s hands skimming higher up her thighs isn’t helping. “You know,” She grumbles in between kisses. “I was supposed to push you onto the bed first.”

“If you wanted this to be accurate,” Dom mutters as one of her hands slips beneath Darlene’s overalls; her fingers are dangerously close to the hot, wet heat gathering between her legs. “You wouldn’t have stolen my badge.”

She’s right again. Darlene rolls her eyes and opens her mouth to return the snark, but a high pitched moan escapes her lips instead; Dom’s fingers move in closer, pushing beneath her underwear to stroke her slick, sensitive skin.

“Someone’s excited.” Her voice is gravelly; the obvious grin in Dom’s tone shoots sharp electric pulses down Darlene’s spine and straight through her pelvis.

Cocky Dom is back with a vengeance, and she’s riling Darlene up like no other. She strokes her slowly, moving in a circular motion, and Darlene rolls her hips at the sensation, panting as her hands move to desperately grasp at Dom’s red hair. She bends her knees and draws her legs up a little higher so that they’re pressed against Dom’s sides, and when she feels the redhead slip two fingers inside, she throws her head back to moan louder.

“Should we slow down?” She can barely register Dom breathlessly whispering in her ear. “I’m pretty sure it wasn’t like this last time. We’re going too fast.”

“S-says the one who’s inside me.” Darlene hisses as one of her hands move to grip the back of Dom’s shirt, bucking her hips and whimpering as the redhead adjusts her wrist to comfortably push herself farther in.

She can feel Dom’s breath fan the side of her face as she chuckles. “Well, I guess it doesn’t really matter,” Dom’s other hand tugs on one of the straps of her overalls. “‘Cause these are in the way.”

Darlene opens her eyes and forces herself to concentrate; she huffs before moving her hands to the redhead’s shoulders, shoving her hard enough so that she’s forced to pull out of her and lie back; she climbs on top of her, straddling her hips as she hooks her thumbs under the straps of her overalls and slides them off her shoulders. Dom sits up and helps her out of her clothes, laughing when she kicks off her shoes. Darlene wraps her legs around the redhead’s waist and grasps her face with her hands, gazing down at her with hazy eyes.

“Is this the part where you tell me not to overthink this?” The smirk Dom’s wearing sends a white hot jolt to her hips and thighs.

“No,” Darlene’s voice is low and husky. “This is the part where I tell you to shut the fuck up and just watch.”

And she finally swoops down to crush her lips against hers.

* * *

Their clothes are carelessly thrown all over the apartment: Dom’s t-shirt somehow made it all the way to her desk, listlessly flopped over her laptop, and Darlene’s underwear is bunched up in a loose ball by the front door. They’re lying next to each other in bed; Darlene is rolled on her stomach, still trying to catch her breath, while Dom is on her back with her hand brushing through her hair. Both of their mouths are stretched wide in tired but satisfied smiles.

Dom reaches out, slipping an arm around Darlene’s shoulders and pulling her in so that she’s on her side and pressed up against her. She shifts so she can secure her other arm around her waist. “There.” She mutters against her hair. “Now you won’t get up in the middle of the night and break into my safe.”

Darlene stifles a laugh. She feels light, giddy, like a schoolgirl hanging out with her first crush. She purrs before tilting her head upwards to graze her nose against the redhead’s jawline, grinning when she glances down to kiss her. “I think I prefer it this way.”

“Then maybe I should’ve done this the first time.” Dom’s voice is a soft rumble against her cheek.

“So,” Darlene squeezes her waist. “You’re admitting that this was all your fault.”

Dom pulls away to squint at her. “What?”

“If you just barnacled onto me the way you are now, I wouldn’t have stolen from you.” Darlene pulls her back in. “See, I’m too comfortable to move now. This is a foolproof plan.”

“Alright, so with that logic, breaking and entering can be prevented if you just have sex with the intruder and cuddle them afterward.” Dom quirks an eyebrow.

“Exactly.” Darlene nestles closer. “Why waste money on some shitty security system that can easily be broken into when you can just suffocate your intruders with some hardcore post-fuck cuddling?”

Dom laughs. “Right. I’ll keep that in mind for next time.” She turns her head to the side so she can drop a kiss to her forehead.

Darlene places a hand over the redhead’s chest and traces her scar with an index finger. “If I didn’t fuck everything up that night and we actually woke up together the next morning, what do you think would’ve happened next?”

There’s a beat of silence before Dom speaks up. “Would you have stayed even if you didn’t steal the badge?”

“What, you think I’m the type to just fuck someone and bail in the middle of the night?” When Dom’s stony expression doesn’t change, she rolls her eyes. “Wow, okay. Good to know you think so highly of me.”

“Can you really blame me for feeling that way, though?”

“Yes.” Darlene shoots her a glare. Dom’s expression is still the same, and she sighs in defeat. “Okay, maybe I’ve done it once or twice before.” Dom blinks, and she groans. “Okay, I’ve done it lots of times - but I wouldn’t have done it with you.”

“Really?” Dom still doesn’t look convinced, and it’s getting on Darlene’s nerves, but at the same time she should’ve expected this. Dom knows _everything_ about her, after all.

“I don’t know.” She admits as she flattens her palm against the redhead’s scar. “There’s a chance I could’ve stayed, but the more I think about it, I probably wouldn’t have. My dumb ass would’ve been too scared.”

Dom reaches up to brush the hair away from Darlene’s face. “Scared of what?”

“Scared of what might happen if I did stay.” Darlene shrugs. “I’d wake up next to you...and then what? Where would we go from there? Does that mean we’re together? Like...would we officially start dating after that?”

“We don’t need to jump right into things.” Dom shifts, shimmying a little lower so that they’re meeting eye to eye. “I don’t think we would’ve been ready for anything official anyway. The both of us were going through a lot back then, especially you.”

“But knowing me, I would’ve jumped into it anyway.” Darlene’s laugh is bitter. “I would’ve used you as a rebound from Cisco and it wouldn’t have been fair to the both of us.” She sucks in a breath and shakes her head. “Maybe it was a good thing you caught me that night. I think things would’ve ended up a lot worse if you didn’t.”

“You mean there’s something worse than becoming a mole for the Dark Army against my will while watching my boss get axed to death?” Dom jokes, and Darlene shakes her head again.

“This might’ve never happened.” She murmurs. She slowly raises a hand and places it on the redhead’s cheek. Her thumb slowly glides across her soft skin as her blue eyes zero in on Dom’s grey ones. “I wouldn’t have you.”

Another brief moment of silence hovers over them. Dom throws her a small smile before leaning in to gently touch her lips with her own. “I’d make you pancakes,” She murmurs before kissing her. “If you stayed, I mean.”

Darlene chuckles. “Seriously?”

Dom shrugs. “Sure, why not?”

“You’ve never made me pancakes before.” Darlene quirks an eyebrow.

“There’s a first time for everything.” The redhead grins, and Darlene’s stomach does a backflip.

“So,” She leans in a little closer so that the ends of their noses are touching. “Are you saying you’re gonna make me pancakes when we wake up later?”

“I don’t have pancake mix.”

“Then go out and get some.”

Dom raises an eyebrow at her. “Why can’t I just take you out for pancakes instead?”

“Because you said you were gonna make them for me.” Darlene rolls her eyes. “Do you even know how to make pancakes?”

“No, but it can’t be that hard, right?” Dom shrugs; when Darlene groans she sighs before leaning in to kiss her again. “Fine. I’ll go out and get pancake mix, and then I’ll make you some goddamn pancakes. Happy now?”

“Yes, very.” Darlene beams at her. After sharing another kiss, she moves in to burrow her face into Dom’s neck. She wants to say something, but she isn’t sure if she should. She takes a few seconds to think about it, battling over the pros and cons in her head, but she eventually gets tired of coming to a stalemate and ultimately decides to say it anyway.

“I want it to be like this all the time.” She mumbles against Dom’s skin. Her heartbeat is fluttering in her chest and she kind of feels a little lightheaded. She also feels really stupid; technically it already is like this all the time, but just saying it and putting it out there in the universe has a gravitas to it. It feels like it actually exists now.

Dom doesn’t answer her right away, which immediately prompts Darlene’s anxiety to spike, but when she finally does reply, her fears are quickly doused. “It could be.” She nudges Darlene’s head with her own, prompting her to pull away just a bit so she can glance up at her. “Come live with me.”

Darlene blinks as she tries to process what she just heard. That wasn’t what she was expecting to hear. All she really wanted was for Dom to tell her that the feeling was mutual, that she loved her and wanted this as much as she did. This...this is different. It’s a lot more than she thought she was going to get. She daydreamed about it a few times, but she never thought she’d actually get this far - but she’s here now, and she’s not exactly sure how to react.

“Really?” She finally utters, still blinking with disbelief.

“I mean,” Dom pulls Darlene in closer as she plants another kiss to her forehead. “We just renovated the place, and you’re here all the time anyway.” She lifts her head a few inches off the pillow and takes a quick glance around. “We’ll have to move some stuff around to fit Annabel’s tank, and we have to get a separate wardrobe for your clothes since the closet’s too small to fit all of our shit, but we can make it work.” She drops her head back on the pillow and smiles at her. “We said we wanted to grow up together, and living together is kind of the grown up thing to do, so...” She shrugs. “We should do it.”

A series of made up memories flood her brain: Making breakfast together every morning, Dom yelling at her because she forgot to do the dishes again, grocery shopping and trips to the laundromat together, standing next to each other over the bathroom sink and laughing at their reflections in the mirror as they brush their teeth - all of it sounds so mundane, boring, lame, domestic, but the thought of doing all of those things with Dom causes her stomach to implode with a kind of excitement she’s never felt before. It’s better than the excitement she felt when the Five/Nine hack went through, and way more intense than how she felt when she typed in the last few lines of code on her phone and redistributed all the money she and Elliot stole back to the people. This is a victory she can solely claim as her own; it’s not a win for fsociety, it’s not a win she has to share with her brother - this is hers, all hers. All of the pain, all of the failure, all of the mishaps and setbacks and terrible decisions led her to this very moment.

But it doesn’t take very long for old habits to resurface. It sounds too good to be true. What if it’s a trap? What if it isn’t what it appears to be? Is any of this real? A part of her wants to pinch herself just so she can check if this isn’t another daydream.

Darlene bites her bottom lip as her eyes search Dom’s face. “Are you sure?” Her voice is soft, tentative. “Is this what you really want? This isn’t just a snap decision or anything?”

“I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t want it - and if I’m being honest with you, I‘ve been thinking about it for the past few months.” Dom shrugs again. “I wanted to wait until tonight to ask you.”

Darlene gapes at her. “You were complaining most of the night. All of that was just a fucking act?”

The redhead looks pretty proud of herself. “I got you good, didn’t I?”

“Asshole.” Darlene mutters, and Dom laughs before moving in to tenderly kiss her lips.

“I love you, Darlene Alderson. You were always my Plan A.” She throws her another smile, and it’s so bright and full of affection that the only thing she can do in return is smile back. “But I only want this if you want it too.”

“I do want it.” She insists before kissing her again. “I want it more than anything.”

“Great.” She can feel Dom grinning against her mouth. “So it’s official - we’re roommates.”

Darlene snorts. “I think we’re _way_ more than just roommates, but sure.” She places a hand on the back of Dom’s neck and sighs. She takes a second to drink her in, poring over Dom’s stupid red hair, her soft grey eyes, the slight tilt in her lips when she smiles, and a wave of excitement washes over her when she realizes that there’s a chance this is going to be the first and last thing she sees every single day from this moment onward. “I love you too, Dom. You better make me pancakes every morning.”

“Wait, when did I say I was gonna make them _every_ morning?” Dom furrows her brow.

“You didn’t.” Darlene grins. “I did.” She moves in for another kiss, and when they break apart she nestles closer to the redhead, sighing against her skin as she nuzzles her head into the crook of her neck. She can feel Dom tightening her arm around her waist, holding her close against her, and it doesn’t take long for fatigue to finally settle in. She closes her eyes and smiles as she allows herself to drift away, dreaming about dirty dishes and mint flavoured toothpaste.


End file.
